


The Tale Of Finding Home

by erciareyes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek leaves Beacon Hills behind, Future Fic, I suck at tagging but it has a happy ending, M/M, Stiles moves to New York for NYU about a year later, even if the start is a bit of a bumpy road, they meet again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 19:23:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3541115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erciareyes/pseuds/erciareyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been one year, two months, twenty-three days, five hours, seventeen minutes and forty-five seconds since Derek Hale turned his back on Beacon Hills and went to find a better life somewhere far away from the city that brought him so much hurt. The city where the bodies of his family, his pack, his friends and also his former enemies still lay hidden beneath ash and dust.</p><p>It’s been one year, two months, twenty-three days, five hours, eight-teen minutes and twenty-three seconds since Stiles walked into the loft to find Derek packing his things with Braeden putting various pieces of dishes out of the cupboards in the kitchen and into brown cardboard boxes that were placed all over the loft. Derek gave him a look that had Stiles asking himself what it meant ever since. A look that seemed to be an apology but felt like a hit in the gut. He’d said goodbye and then turned on his heel, like he didn’t even care…but he did. And that night he cried into his pillow, not sure what he was crying for.</p><p>It’s been one year, two months, twenty-three days, five hours, twenty minutes and three seconds and Stiles understands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tale Of Finding Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theroguesgambit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theroguesgambit/gifts).
  * Translation into Русский available: [История одного дома](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3548837) by [angelphine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelphine/pseuds/angelphine)



> This is a fanfic written for the wonderful Rachel (halekingsourwolf on Tumblr and theroguesgambit on AO3) because she was a bit sad. 
> 
> I wrote this in the middle of the night and didn't have a beta reader look over it, so if you find any mistakes, please shoot me a message on Tumblr maybe? You can find me as erciareyes there. Thanks <3 
> 
> Now I hope you enjoy reading this, see you again soon.
> 
> For everyone who is waiting for a new chapter on my multi-chapter fanfic 'A Heart With A Name', I am so sorry I left you waiting for so long but I am working on it. There will be new chapters, I will not abandon the fic, promise! :)

It’s been one year, two months, twenty-three days, five hours, seventeen minutes and forty-five seconds since Derek Hale turned his back on Beacon Hills and went to find a better life somewhere far away from the city that brought him so much hurt. The city where the bodies of his family, his pack, his friends and also his former enemies still lay hidden beneath ash and dust.

It’s been one year, two months, twenty-three days, five hours, eight-teen minutes and twenty-three seconds since Stiles walked into the loft to find Derek packing his things with Braeden putting various pieces of dishes out of the cupboards in the kitchen and into brown cardboard boxes that were placed all over the loft. Derek gave him a look that had Stiles asking himself what it meant ever since. A look that seemed to be an apology but felt like a hit in the gut. He’d said goodbye and then turned on his heel, like he didn’t even care…but he did. And that night he cried into his pillow, not sure what he was crying for.

It’s been one year, two months, twenty-three days, five hours, twenty minutes and three seconds and Stiles understands.

It’s not like didn’t understand back then but he understands it even better now that he has slipped from death’s claws just mere seconds before it was too late once again. He understands that Derek wanted to get away from this, that he wanted a better life for himself, the he wanted freedom after all the loss and pain he’d had to go through. Stiles feels like he could do with a bit of freedom himself, wishes that he could just go and leave this place behind.

There’s only a few weeks left until high school ends, only a few more weeks until they will all part. No one has said it out loud yet but Stiles knows that’s how it will go. Lydia has been accepted to Cambridge for a while now, she showed him the letter weeks ago. Scott already decided to stay in Beacon Hills to become a vet and Kira, well Stiles doesn’t really know where Kira will go, thinks that she may stay around here and go to community college to be closer to Scott and her family.

Stiles thinks about Malia and how, for a while after Derek left and they broke up, he couldn’t look her in the eye because he was scared she would hate him. He doesn’t know if she hates him now because only a few days after they broke up she decided to go look for her mother, with Peter of all people. Stiles hasn’t heard anything from her since, he feels responsible though and worried because nothing good comes from making deals with Peter Hale.

Stiles stares down at his acceptance letter. New York. He tells himself it’s a coincidence that he called Cora a few weeks back to ask where Derek was and found out that he’s in New York, too. He tries to convince himself that he didn’t apply to NYU in hope to find Derek there, knowing that the broody guy had lived there once and thought highly of his time there. There is no other reason for him to go to New York than a good University.

————————————————————————————  
It’s been one year, three months, twenty days, eight-teen hours, five minutes and thirty seconds when Stiles gets into the car to drive to NYU. Scott is sitting next to him, he insisted on coming with him to help him settle in. Stiles is thankful because honestly, he thinks he could not do it without Scott.

His dad is driving and Scott and him are sitting in the back seat. It feels just like the old days when his dad took both of them out for camping trips on the weekend, back when their lives weren’t filled with death and grieving. Stiles is sure that Scott still wakes up crying at night, seeing Allison in his arms as she takes her last breath, even though he has been happy with Kira for more than a year now. He can see it in his eyes and he hates himself for leaving him behind but Scott assured him that he is alright, that he’s okay with Stiles leaving to find solid ground again. ‘Losing your ground can easily happen after being possessed by an evil fox spirit and nearly getting torn apart by harpies.’, Scott had said and had smiled at him sadly.

They are listening to old songs from Blink 182 when they arrive at NYU and Stiles can’t believe he really got out of Beacon Hills alive. He was sure that some creature, some bond to the Nemeton maybe, would stop them from leaving but here he is, standing in front of the building he would live in for the next few years. He can’t help but feel a bit lost at the sight of the thousands of people coming in and out of the dorm but Scott squeezes his hand and he feels a bit more brave after that.

The first night after Scott is gone is hard for Stiles but eventually he falls asleep, thinking about the start of his new life.

————————————————————-  
It’s been one year, four months, ten days, twenty hours, seven-teen minutes and fifty seconds when Stiles realizes that this has somehow become his new life and he doesn’t know if he likes it. He goes to his lectures, starts writing on his essays and works on his homework. Every night he calls his dad and then checks in with Scott, just to see how everybody is doing. Twice a week he skypes with Lydia, who seems to be doing really good at Cambridge, especially now that Jackson’s back at her side and seems to be a much better person than before. Stiles thought he would feel hurt at seeing them together but he realizes that he has moved on, finally.

The days pass by and Stiles lives through them, not sure if he’s actually living at all. His room-mate tells him that’s the way college is supposed to feel and Stiles believes him. College may be exhausting but at least it wasn’t going to kill him anytime soon. College was safe.

But college was also boring and nerve wrecking and lonely. Pretty fucking lonely. He likes his courses, he likes his room-mates and still Stiles doesn’t feel as satisfied and happy as he thought he would at all.

————————————————————-  
It’s been one year, five months, three days, one hour, fifty-one minutes and twenty-nine seconds when Stiles finally finds Derek. He’s surprised because he hasn’t even looked for him yet but in the middle of the night there he is, sitting on a park bench reading ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Stiles’ heart nearly stops.

He didn’t really think it would happen like this. He’d dreamed about getting his address from Cora and knocking on his door to find his surprised face staring at him. He’d imagined that Derek would send him away, maybe, would shut the door in his face. In some of his weirder moments he’d thought about Derek working as a barista or something and imagined how weird it would be. Instead, Derek seems like he’s actually been waiting for him and Stiles isn’t sure what it means. It’s even weirder than the barista-thing.

He sits down next to Derek, not sure what to say, so they sit in silence. It’s not uncomfortably, although Stiles hates silence. Derek’s presence next to him gives him a feeling of safety he hasn’t felt for a long time. He doesn’t feel like he needs to say anything. After twenty minutes of silence he stands up and walks back to his dorm. He feels Derek’s eyes on his back as he leaves.

————————————————————-  
Three nights later, they meet again. The same park bench, a different book in Derek’s hands. He doesn’t say a word but this time he looks up at Stiles and gives him something like a smile. Stiles turns and leaves immediately, feeling overwhelmed with something he can’t describe, like he’s scared of not only breaking the silence but also the unspoken bond between them if he starts talking.

When he arrives at his dorm he is angry with himself because he’s never had a problem with talking to Derek. Now he feels like his voice was taken from him, he doesn’t know what he wants to ask first or if he wants to ask about anything at all. He silently wonders what Braeden thinks about Derek being out all night and then decides he doesn’t care.

————————————————————-  
It takes nearly a week before either of them says a word and Stiles is more than surprised to find Derek to be the one to utter the words. Stiles just stood up to go again, is in the process of walking away when he hears him.

"Why are you out here every night, Stiles?" he asks and Stiles stops, stock-still, breathing in the eerie night air.

"Why are you here?" Stiles asks back and turns around to face Derek.

There’s a small smile on his face, like he’s thinking of something or someone he’s fond of.

"I want to say you haven’t changed at all but the fact you haven’t said anything for almost a week begs to differ." Derek says.

"Yeah and the fact that you just held half a monologue shows me that you learned to speak, which is pretty impressive."

Derek shrugs. “I learned a lot of things while I was gone.”

Stiles takes a tentative step forwards, back into Derek’s direction, before he decides that now that the weird silence-thing between them is broken he doesn’t want to go back to not saying anything. He walks back towards the bench and sits down next to Derek again, now looking straight at him. There’s slight stubble on his face, less defined muscle on his arms and a warm look on his face. It’s a strange sight, somehow.

"Yeah? You wanna tell me about it?"

And that’s how they start talking again, one year, five months, thirteen days, two hours, forty-three minutes and six seconds after Derek Hale left Beacon Hills behind.

————————————————————-  
It develops all by itself after the silence in the beginning. Stiles isn’t sure what kept him from talking but whatever it was, it is gone now. He’s talking so much sometimes that Derek goes back to teasing him about it and it brings a familiarity that Stiles has missed in the last year and a half.

They call Scott together sometimes and Scott is happy to see Derek. Kira tunes in now and then, excited to hear about Derek’s stories from his travels all over the world. Apparently, after finding out that Braeden and him just wouldn’t work out, he spent three months with Cora in Argentina before moving on to Paris to look for Isaac and Chris Argent. After finding them and making sure Isaac was doing alright, Derek flew to London to find Jackson, only to see that Jackson didn’t need any help anymore but instead took matters into his own hands and became a better person. According to Jackson he did it for himself but Derek still thinks that Lydia was a big influence.

After dealing with the still open wounds in Paris and London, Derek went on to Kenya and Somalia. Stiles loves to listen to him talk about the different animals around there and the interesting packs. He loves to hear how Derek spent almost half of his money to help people get water and food because it assures him in what he has known for a very long time now: Derek Hale is a good person.

They start to get into a kind of routine after a while. They talk and meet up sometimes so Derek can help Stiles with his studies. It turns out Derek knows even more about mythology and folklore than Stiles had expected, there’s never a day when he isn’t blown away by all the knowledge Derek carries around with him.

Sometimes, on the weekends, they watch movies together and Derek cooks for them. Other times they sit together in Stiles dorm when his room-mate is out partying, looking through his notes and eating Chinese or Pizza.

It all feels normal to them and maybe that’s why the first time they kiss, it doesn’t come as a surprise to either of them. It just happens, like it’s part of their routine and Stiles sinks into Derek’s arms like he belongs there. Stiles asks himself if he ever fit into anyone else’s arms so perfectly.

He’s sitting on the kitchen counter, talking about something he can’t even remember a second later, when Derek turns around and just stares at him for a few seconds before pressing his lips to Stiles’. Stiles breathes out, sighs into Derek’s mouth and kisses him back like he’s never done anything else. It’s not weird, it’s totally natural and still, it takes Stiles breath away.

Derek’s fingers card through his hair, nails scraping his on scalp lightly and Stiles holds on for dear life hoping it won’t ever end. Derek steps between his thighs, puts his hands on Stiles’ back and pulls him closer. Stiles wraps himself around Derek like a cocoon, afraid that if he lets go maybe Derek will step back and break the kiss. He feels like breathing would be a necessary thing about now but somehow he doesn’t care. The lightheadedness makes him sink into Derek even more and when the older man grabs his legs to move him over to the couch he can’t help but gasp in agreement.

Derek breaks the kiss when he sets Stiles down on the couch.

"Is this okay?" he asks and Stiles nods breathlessly.

He’s never seen a more gorgeous sight than Derek Hale with kiss-swollen, red lips and wide eyes staring down at him. About half an hour later he revokes that thought when Derek pants above him, breathing out his orgasm as he pushes into Stiles over and over again, leaving bruises in the shape of his fingertips on Stiles’ hips. His face is so relaxed when he comes that Stiles swears to himself he will do everything to make Derek feel this good every single day of his life.

————————————————————-  
It’s been three years, seven months, two weeks, one day, seventeen hours, fifty-three minutes and fifty-nine seconds since Derek Hale left Beacon Hills when he comes back for good.

The sun is shining as he holds Stiles’ hand, the Sheriff and Melissa are dancing in the background. He hears Scott and Kira laughing, somewhere around the house Cora is fighting with Malia (she eventually called Scott to pick her up from Mexico because Peter left her behind). He smiles at Stiles, kisses his palm and looks down onto the preserve, his land, the land of his family and feels happiness swell up inside of him.

Behind him, the renovated Hale house stands proud and beautiful, just like in the old days and feels like the souls of his relatives are here on this day to celebrate, too.

"I love you." Stiles says and puts his head against his shoulder, their fingers still intertwined.

"I love you, too." Derek answers.

They share a sweet, short kiss and continue to look at the land that now carries the name of the Hale family once again, rightfully.

"Hey, guys, Kira is getting pretty hungry and-"

"That’s a lie! I am not the one who keeps eying the cake all the time, Scott. Don’t put this on me." Kira protests and Stiles grins.

"But you just said…I thought…I mean-" Scott stutters and Derek grins too. They are even more ridiculous than them.

"Alright, so I am hungry and I want cake. I mean, I came all the way here from Paris, so would you mind interrupting your cute little moment over there to tend to your guests?" Isaac asks impatiently.

Derek and Stiles turn around and walk over to the little crowd standing around the cake. They pick up the knife and begin cutting when the Sheriff raises his glass with a happy smile.

"To the happy couple!" he says.

Everybody raises their glass.

"To the happy couple!"

Stiles looks at Derek happily and kisses his cheek. It’s been three years, seven months, two weeks, one day, seventeen hours, fifty-nine minutes and twenty-two seconds and now they have finally found home.


End file.
